The sound of silence: after the WH-1000XM5, where does noise-cancelling go next? - TechRadar

When designing a pair of noise-cancelling headphones like the Sony WH-1000XM5, there are a million considerations that need to be made?

The Sony WH-1000XM5 has all those things, many of which are among the highest quality we’ve seen on a pair of wireless headphones, perhaps only rivalled by Sony’s previous flagship headphones, the Sony WH-1000XM4, and the Bose QuietComfort 45. .

Noise cancellation technology is nothing new and works on a pretty simple mathematical principle - sound, in the form of waves, has a wavelength and in order to ‘cancel’ incoming sound all you need to do is generate a second soundwave that’s phase-inverted by 180 degrees to block the unwanted noise. .

How effective a pair of headphones are at this comes down to how precise the microphones are that pick up the incoming ambient noise, how fast and how powerful a counter wave can be generated from the headphones and how good of a seal the headphones create with the ear to eliminate outgoing or incoming sound leakage.

To make its noise cancellation top-notch Sony has doubled the amount of microphones in the Sony WH-1000XM5 from four to eight and added a second dedicated processor in the form of the Sony V1.

As we inch ever closer to perfect noise cancellation, Sony will have to look elsewhere for innovation, potentially in better sound reproduction, comfort, utility and features.

For spatial audio, Sony has invested some serious money in 360 Reality Audio, a proprietary format created by Sony that’s specifically designed to work with compatible Sony speakers (like the Sony SRS-RA5000) and soundbars like the Sony HT-A7000. 

Incorporating spatial audio seems to be high on Sony’s list for future headphones - the Sony WH-1000XM4 and new WH-1000XM5 both support the format already - but increasing the strength and convenience of using 360 Reality Audio are two places where the company could still improve in the future

To that end, while Sony has brought better noise cancellation with each new iteration of its headphones and will soon be nearing the limit of the technology, it still has other areas that can be improved to keep its WH-1000X series the king of the castle for a few more years